Mr Burnham is claiming his salary and expenses as an MP but has not been a good attender so far. He is not speaking out in Parliament about the changes he wants to government policy. We have not heard the details of the Makerfield test for spending and policy.
It looks as if the relaxed timetable for nominations for the Labour leadership and then the delays in arranging the handover from Sir Keir are all designed to ensure Mr Burnham only takes up the job of PM after the Commons has gone into recess. This will mean MPs have to wait until early September to hear from the new government and be able to ask them questions.
What Mr Burnham should do is to get the current government to announce that Commons will break for the summer recess on 23 July, the date for recess in the Lords, instead of the premature July 16 th in the present timetable. That would allow the new PM to make a statement Monday 20 th of the main changes he wants in government policy. The Chancellor could update the House on 21 July to reassure markets about the new governments finances, and the Home Secretary could tell us how they will handle borders , crime and migration on 22 July. Any other department facing serious change could also be fitted in for a statement.
Why doesn’t Mr Burnham want to start the task of winning over lost voters and reassuring MPs that he does know the changes people want? It looks as if he hasn’t a clue what to do to bring his facile soundbites into reality. Number 10 is not a good hiding place for a timid or unsure PM.
July 12, 2026
Number 10 is not a good hiding place for a timid or unsure PM.
Your right on that score Sir John look at Starmers record in times of trouble he’d bugger off to Brussels to see his friends in the EU to try and stitch us up trying to find ways to get us back into there club, and that’s were Burnham will come unstuck if he follows Starmer lead into getting us tied up In the dreaded EU
July 12, 2026
John, he wants to extend his honeymoon period without the interruption of important policy details.
I guess the recess will give him time to work through policies, which just about touches the sides of the vague outlines made by Starmer, although I am quite sure they will be very different (worse) in practice and effect.
Just shows what a farce it was having a Kings speech just a few weeks ago.
July 12, 2026
Were Burnham a Tory or Reform PM we’d hear plenty from Labour. Outrage at others is something Labour do well; it comes naturally to them, though they have a curious blind spot about their own failings. It is a formidable political weapon which has even ousted a PM.
The outrage at Farage’s finances or Boris’s activities is never successfully echoed when parallel sins are committed by Labour figures. Perhaps other parties should develop the technique.
July 13, 2026
As I recall Labour MPs were outraged at the prospect of having a 2 child benefit cap and reducing payouts for sickness and disabled benefits.
The left howls about being nice and being seen to be nice except to those who have to pay for their largesse
July 12, 2026
Facile sound soundbites – “growth in every postcode and hope in every heart”, more power to local politicians like Sadiq Kahn, Mark Drakeford, Nicola Sturgeon… a council house for every one, continued open borders, remain in the ECHR, realign with the EU, and a number 10 up North and (it seems) odds on Ed Miliband as Chancellor. Plus no money to do any of it. What could go wrong!
Not the sort of agenda that should give anyone or the markets any hope!
July 12, 2026
He does say he will stick with the Starmer Manifesto – so I assume he will undo the vast, crippling NI increases the disingenuous Reeves and Starmer delivered (this while doing their growth, growth, growth rain dance). This a huge and clear breach or their manifesto as is their abject failure to even try to smash the gangs and their EU moves.
July 12, 2026
Why do the police keep telling us not to speculate? Speculate is all you can do if you do not have all the facts and the state is rather good at hiding the facts (as with the vast Covid “vaccines” damage) and I am perfectly entitled to do so and will do.
On balance to me it seems very likely indeed, given the information we do have, that Anne Widdecombe was probably murdered for political reasons. We shall see.
Police saying “do not speculate” translates as “shut up you voters” we will tell you how to think. They also say we should “allow the police to police” but no one is stopping them!
“Speculation” the act of forming a theory, idea, or guess about a subject without having all the necessary facts or concrete evidence. It broadly means making an educated guess or inference about something unknown, such as predicting a future event.
July 12, 2026
Hahaha. The police tell us not to speculate yet they speculate that there is no terrorism or political motive in the murder of Anne Widdicombe without apparent definite motive or as they put it “no suggestion”.
July 13, 2026
The difference is they speculate but not very intelligently and so they get it wrong it seems.
July 12, 2026
@LL. Well said. We don’t accept this from the authorities, post covid.
July 13, 2026
+1
July 12, 2026
Police are keen to release information that both suspects were white British. Very different to the Southport murders case where they tried to withhold or twist details about the suspect for as long as possible.
The head of Devon and Cornwall police, statistically one of the country’s worst force, also gave this self-serving statement :-
“ Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable James Vaughan praised his force’s “extraordinary response” to the murder of 78-year-old former MP and broadcaster Ann Widdecombe. He described the swift investigation—which led to a suspect’s arrest within 48 hours—as “clearly British policing at its very best.”
July 13, 2026
Well they told us he was a Welsh Choir Boy!
July 13, 2026
Speculating / generating ideas is an effective way of identifying potential solutions for assessment. People and governments should do more of it, but if spreading false trails on social media hampers police progress sensible folk should avoid the temptation.
July 12, 2026
The farce of the situation is that only 25,000 people voted for a new Prime Minister, and all did without a clue as to any of his policy ideas, if all he is going to do is keep to Starmer’s Manifesto, why bother to change PM, likewise if there was no other sensible challenger from any other existing MP, why get rid of Starmer and accept someone who is not going to change anything, but just explain it differently ?
I see big changes on the way for workers, strivers, savers, investors under the guise of re-distribution of their funds and efforts, to the feckless and work shy, after all why bother if you cannot keep what you have worked for.
July 12, 2026
“…….and (it seems) odds on Ed Miliband as Chancellor.”
Burnham wants to remove Ed Miliband from DESNZ and hence is offering him the next most powerful job after PM, that of being the Chancellor. This is because although the Left’s MoD is to gain and retain power through the impoverishment of the population, Ed Miliband’s ideological fervour for Net Zero will cause too fast a “just transition” to impoverishment and this will frighten the voters. As was seen in the recent Aberdeen South by-election.
July 12, 2026
Your difficulty, Lord Redwood is that you are an honest injun and a true democrat. Woke Socialists allied to Islamists do not play by the rules, have no respect for democracy nor for parliament. Secrecy, deceit (taqqiya) and stealth are their watchwords.
July 12, 2026
+1 socialism worth by promising people they will take money of some people onto buy the votes of their supporters, it never works and they never even deliver not even for their supporters.
July 12, 2026
It never “works” rather. It is the evil, dishonest and immoral politics of envy. A vile trick to people into supporting them. Yet the left pretend to be the kind and caring people. Actually either very dim or very evil hypocrits or both.
July 12, 2026
Is a newly elected M.P. such as Mr Burnham required to make a maiden speech as his first duty constitutionally?
Reply No, you only make one Commons maiden speech when first elected as an MP. Burnham has not chosen to speak in the Commons since returning. Why?
I made my maiden speech in the Lords in the first available slot as I was keen to take part in the debates and Question sessions.
July 12, 2026
Your final paragraph says it all.
July 12, 2026
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
The problem is ‘what can a new PM do?.’ Answer ‘very little’. Applies equally to Badenoch and the rest. HM Treasury won’t let them do anything to upset the markets. All politicians know what to do, but getting elected afterwards if the problem. So they never do.
Only a couple of weeks and Parliament knocks off ‘work’ again. Return in time for those deadly tiresome conferences (don’t know why they bother) then time for Christmas. Another year wasted.
An outside chance is some big political upset, bring in the IMF Commissioners or similar. But a very very small chance, no one wants the apple cart upset – too comfy – keep the revolving door turning slowly. A bit more tax should keep the wolf from the door a little while longer.
July 12, 2026
True a PM can do very little, but the people can do much – provided they aren’t stifled with tax and regulation.
July 13, 2026
But they ARE stifled by vast taxes, two tier justice and endless red tape and lack any real and meaningful democracy.
July 12, 2026
It seems because he doesn’t much respect parliament.
He’s seen how Starmer got away with not involving Parliament when he could get away with it, and it’s likely he will continue on that path. His concerns seem centred on keeping his hard line MPs content and building support outside parliament – What a way to run a government!
Meanwhile Burnham will carry on making appearance at places he knows he is welcome at to bolster his ego and give labour activists good news to spread. He’s more interested in cementing his voter base than he is with Parliamentary procedure.
July 12, 2026
He has already told us his plans John. He wants to re-join the EU which automatically requires the adoption of the Euro, he wants to hand Chagos over to the Mauritians and award them £35billion for their adoption of our key Indian Ocean asset. He wants to give mayors up and down the country the power to levy taxes and he wants a second parallel administration based somewhere up north, for some reason?
He probably wants to relax the Parliamentary dress code to include tee shirts possibly with sponsor’s logos on in order to introduce advertising into our political chamber. He has declared he wants to increase spending on social benefits and the money will be provided by wealth tax of one form or another.
What more do we need to hear to understand the journey from the frying pan into the fire is not going to be a pleasant one?
July 12, 2026
He isn’t there to win over voters. He’s just next in the long line of PM’s put in place to continue the destruction of our country. Why voters don’t learn their lesson and vote for someone who will care about our country and its people is beyond me. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The people of Makerfield clearly went insane when they selected this puppet and the rest of us have to live with the consequences.
July 12, 2026
If Mr. Burnham is not attending Parliament how will Parliament be able to directly question his policies? We might think that some scrutiny, if not outright opposition, may therefore come via the numerous select committees, particularly if the chairman is a member of the Opposition. As we read today that the SoS for DESNZ has approved Britain’s second-largest solar farm on 4,000 acres of prime farmland after overruling opposition from his own inspectors it might be thought that this decision would at least be questioned by the Public Accounts Committee. Particularly bearing in mind that this 740MW installed capacity will over a year generate an average only 81MW with its 11% capacity factor. Unfortunately the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee is a member of CEN and hence a supporter of Net Zero.
July 12, 2026
we do not live in a parliamentary democracy, I dont know where you get that silly idea.
the blob makes decisions behind closed doors. on everything from who to ration healthcare to, to what to do about immigration, to where to stick more tax burdens.
the best thing that can happen to Burnham is the bond market refusing to play ball, and causing big financial troubles, forcing him out.
it does not look like the political process has anyone half decent capable of taking over in any of the main parties though.
July 12, 2026
Allison Pearson yesterday in the Telegraph, show how perverted and lazy this UK Parliament has got. This Parliament is not up-to the job, Chairman Mao will rule ‘from up North’, instead of being AWOL with foreign trips he will dodge them by WFH. But does it matter when looked at the bigger picture – the Country and its People are of no concern to the UK Parliament they just want to give all the ‘earned’ money away without question.
AP – ‘You know, I do find myself wondering whether Nigel’s relationship with “Posh George” Cottrell, jailed for eight months in 2016 in the US for felony wire fraud, may not be quite as worrying as Sir Keir Starmer, Lord Hermer, Philippe Sands and a coterie of North London Labour lawyers trying to push through the “sale” of the Chagos Islands – a sale so mysterious the British taxpayer gives away £35bn for nothing in return.’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/08/britain-needs-farage/
July 13, 2026
+1
July 12, 2026
“He [Mr. Burnham] is not speaking out in Parliament about the changes he wants to government policy.”
The PM has not been switched by Parliament, the Civil Service, the quangos, charities, academia and the judiciary to change government policy. Indeed I expect it to continue as before, which is why the outgoing PM is upset. Mr. Burnham has been made PM for one reason only and that is stop Reform.
July 12, 2026
I am getting 10 text messages a day from the water company telling me to use less water. I never agreed to be spammed like this. I am already an adult who pays per volume of water used, I already try to be careful with water. I really do despair at the quality of services in this country. maybe if they fixed their leaks, built more reservoirs, and told the government to cut immigration then there would not be a problem.
July 13, 2026
In a real and un-rigged market they would surely be encouraging you to buy more water to increase their profits and then anlso investing more in supply and storage to meet demand!
July 13, 2026
It is obvious, isn’t it?
He wants to start his administration when Parliament is in recess and he can make changes without Parliamentary scrutiny or debate.
By the time Parliament returns we could be living in a Totalitarian Socialist State.